Search results

Why even have players if the important decisions are taken without their involvement?

I would run it as a skill challenge: 3 successes before 3 failures. I have consolidated several skills (Persuasion, Insight, Deception and Intimidation are all Manipulation, for instance) and skills are not tied to attributes. Because of the consolidation, characters get fewer skills. My...

Presumably, you wouldn’t allow a 20 Str 5th level fighter to lop off an ogre’s head in those circumstances either. Which goes back to one of the underlying pieces of guidance in D&D: only roll the dice when the outcome is in doubt. If a player makes a compelling case why an NPC should do...

This sounds similar to what I do: I use skill challenges for both Exploration and Social. 3 successes before 3 failures.(or 5 successes before 5 failures). You need to justify the use of the skill and the stat (so if someone is lying about being a priest Insight(Wisdom) or...

It generally behooves the party making the affirmative claim to provide evidence “Wookies are strong enough to tear off a person’s limbs”. A joking claim (since it seems unlikely that Chewie would actually dismember C3PO) by a known BSer isn’t strong evidence that Wookies can lieterally do...

Following on the previous post, one bit of GM advice that I have tried to internalize is: Look at what behaviour you incentivize by your actions and rulings as a DM, and don’t be surprised when the players when the players act in line with the expectations you set. If every time players try...

Yes.

Halflings also get a +2 to Dex, so clearly, Elves snd Halflings are the same thing.

Because a Halfling is both extremely sneaky and prone to thieving but also shows little inclination for adventure. shrug

One thing I’ve seen in PbtA games that I like is that each character defines a bond with two other characters that occurred prior to the start of the campaign. It allows the players to start role-playing before the adventure begins and gives them a reason to continue to adventure together.

Kind of disagree with this. The math doesn’t paint a picture, the fiction does. If, in 10 years of play, a 20th level fighter is never overwhelmed by a swarm of untrained peasants, does it really matter if theoretically, in a white room, you could send enough peasants (whose morale doesn’t...

Definitely this. The older I get, the clearer it becomes that most problems in TTRPGs comes from communication errors. Just because you believe you were clear, doesn’t mean that the person you were speaking to understood what you were trying to convey. Best example comes from these boards...

My games tend to be low magic items. Specifically, even when they find magic items, +X. Items tend not to be found. Not because they are overpowered, but because they are boring.

Every campaign needs NPCs. Meanwhile, only games that involve Domain Management require Domain Management rules.

See, that’s precisely the problem. You seem to think those tables of names are a waste. I don’t. Why should your preference for “Domain Management” rules trump my preference for a list of tables I can use to pull random names from when the party meets an NPC?

Regardless of intention, the fact that 5e adopted unified proficiency progression for attacks rolls, saves and skills means that allowing untrained PCs to attempt checks is a direct consequence of bounded accuracy. I view this as a good thing.

Disagree. Most NPC halflings aren’t Str-based fighters. When I DM, I can fill the world with NPCs that reflect my conception of how a race would implement the class. Meanwhile, when I play, my halfling PC can be extraordinarily strong. There have always been individuals at the extreme ends...

Whereas for me, those random name tables are extremely useful, whereas I’m glad that people who want a Domain Management section can get it from 3PP.

Exactly this. People pine for the days when D&D was sold by a small private company, but they sure don’t miss the incompetence (incomplete rules sets shoved out the door), the venality (let’s make Buck Rogers a thing because the major shareholder owns the IP). 30 years ago, Gary Gygax could...

It means that people can meaningfully attempt a task and not just be shut down by the GM if it isn’t part of their build. The bard is still going to be better at persuading people than the barbarian, but the barbarian isn’t told to stand in the back and not open their mouth because they have no...